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IT’S so drab and rainy outside right now — and projected to be even more so tomorrow — so I thought I’d brighten things up by sharing my photos of this past weekend in Stowe, Vermont. Foolishly, I had thought I might catch some lazy leaves still flickering on the trees in upstate Vermont but the fall colors had already come and gone more than a month ago. Still, I managed to find plenty of color in the Green Mountain State.

We spotted this vintage blue tractor hanging out behind the Cold Hollow Cider Mill and couldn’t resist snapping a few shots. Below, the red-brown color of the wall drew me. Also by the cider mill—which you should definitely visit in order to taste some deliciously fresh cider, try out a cider doughnut, or buy some other apple-y goodies.

The following three photographs were taken by the reservoir in Waterbury, just south of Stowe, where we enjoyed the warm colors of the sunset.

P.S. The pumpkin shot was taken outside Michael’s on the Hill, a “chef-owned” fine-dining restaurant in Waterbury that was by far our best meal in Vermont. It was an excellent meal, from the truffled mushroom tartine to the pork loin and skillet chicken to the profiteroles dessert. I highly recommend it.

Travelogues

When confronted by great white sharks a few feet away from our boat, jaws dropped open and a collective “wow” swept the onlookers. We forgot everything we had seen in scary movies and on Discovery Channel’s Shark Week and just stared.

One of the seven wonders of the modern world, the limestone structure that is the Kukulcán pyramid looms at the centre of the vast public ground in Chichén Itzá, the ancient Mayan city in the heartland of Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.

Most rapids seemed to be named after people who had died or were rescued at the last minute from a terrible fate. Maybe someone long ago had thought that it would add to the thrill of rafting down the river, but to me it seemed rather depressing. I shivered in the sunlight.

“Cookies for the survivors!” yelled Nelson cheerfully as we climbed up a muddy slope made slippery by the driving tropical rain. It was not the right sentiment to warm the hearts of the dozen or so tourists about to voluntarily zip from treetop to treetop 400ft above the ground.